We’re back with another list post today. It’s back to back list posts, which is something we don’t always do here at GBW, but I think you’ll like what you read today. It’s an interesting topic.
Celebrity gossip might be something you read regularly. It’s impossible to escape the coverage of celebrities today. They are everywhere. It used to be that you’d read about celebrities on the newsstands near the checkout at the grocery store, but with the Internet the gossip is everywhere you turn. There is no avoiding it.
My thinking is that since these publications have been around so long and because there are a ton of celebrity gossip blogs that they must be doing something right. After all, these are some of the most trafficked and profitable websites and publications out there. Something has to be going right because people are paying attention.
I’m all for getting inspiration everywhere so let’s look at five things we can learn from celebrity gossip bloggers.
1. Incredibly Catchy and Interesting Headlines
The first thing I notice about gossip sites are the headlines. They are incredibly catchy. People share these headlines all over the Internet and it generates tons of traffic for the original source and even those sites that kind of piggy back on the original news by providing some interesting insight of their own.
That’s another quick point. These sites are always original in their news. What is unique is how they interpret the news. That’s what the sites are all about. They take some news and provide an interpretation for their followers. People follow them partly for the news, but mostly for the personality driving the news.
And it all starts with the headline.
2. The Focus is on Entertainment
The other day we looked at the power of entertainment. People want to be entertained with their content. Education and enlightenment is certainly a part of reading or viewing content, but entertainment is just as important. You can be boring and give simple how to posts that drive some good traffic, but people want to get to know your personality. People want to laugh and hear good stories. It’s not easy to be entertaining, but it is possible to learn and if you can do that you’ll be a winner in the blogging world.
Follow some of the gossip sites and learn their tricks for accomplishing this.
3. Always Controversial
Gossip bloggers are the best at controversy. They seem to have thick skin and they are really good at picking polarizing topics. They find celebrities that are polarizing figures. It’s not that celebrity bloggers take sides on issues, although some certainly do, it’s more that the best bloggers play off hot topics and let their readers go off on each other about who is right and who is wrong. This leads to a passionate fanbase because they can unite together against something.
4. Consistent with High Frequency
Celebrity bloggers are hard workers. It’s incredible how hard the folks work to constantly have gossip up on the websites. The celebrity gossip world is fighting for attention 24/7. People are always looking for the latest dish on their favorite celebrities and the best celebrity bloggers are willing to chase that attention by working countless hours. These sites must have teams of writers and reporters finding information all over the Internet and news happening in the real world so they have something to write about. High frequency pays off with constant attention from a specific audience. It’s hard to do but worthwhile if you’re willing to commit.
5. Detail Oriented
This one might surprise you, but I think it is absolutely true. I’m not a frequent reader of gossip blogs, but from what I see they actually are pretty detailed oriented. I think they have to because there is already so much scrutiny on them for being trashy that they need to focus on the details so they have some claim for legitimacy.
Blogging is about details for whatever you’re blogging about and that includes details for statistics, details for images you use, etc. It’s about making sure that if people have questions they can see through examples that there are details included to support what you’re saying.
Even a quick look on Perez Hilton will show you video evidence and other information supporting the claims. When there is a chance of truth supported by proof there is at least a thread of legitimacy. That’s why these publications are popular.
What do you think about gossip blogs? Do you read them?
Hopefully there is some interesting information here for you to take as you continue your business blogging efforts.